Literary Heresy

Everyone has those books that you know you're "supposed" to like, but you just don't.

Most of them are books you read in high school.  I've come around on some of those volumes since that time, understanding that I didn't have the mental architecture or context to appreciate them at that point.

I mean, I'm not in a hurry to re-read Grapes of Wrath to find out whether it's any good, but I will admit that my complete and utter hatred of it had much more to do with it being assigned for summer reading than with anything in the text.

There are plenty of books that are technically good, but just don't click for everyone. If you've gone all the way back in the archives, you probably saw my disappointed disdain for Little Women. But it can feel like you're the only one who doesn't like whatever the newest 'modern classic' is.

I'm not a fan of One Hundred Years of Solitude, surprisingly.  I found it well written, but too long and the plot too thin.  The beginning and ending are great, but don't quite make up for the rest, in my opinion.

I am now infamous amoung some friends as "the one who hated The Time Travelers Wife."  Yes, it's true.  I thought that book was vastly overrated. The plot was boring, the time travel ill thought out, the ending foolish, and the characters whiny.

Don't shoot me, but I was at the wrong age to like the first two Harry Potter books. I didn't understand the craze for a long time, and even now I only think some of the books are good, and none are drop-dead brilliant.

There are so many books that I love, I'm not going to pretend I like something else just because I'm 'supposed' to like it. Come on then, shout your heresy to the sky!  What does everyone else like that you just don't get?